UN Human Rights Council sessions

In August 2013, at the Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights for Latin America and the Caribbean, and later at UN Human Rights Council 24th session in September 2013, the representative of Ecuador before the UN made a declaration regarding"Transnational Corporations and Human Rights". With this statement the government of Ecuador proposed a legally binding international instrument on business & human rights to be concluded within the UN system. The instrument envisioned "would clarify the obligations of transnational corporations in the field of human rights" and "provide for the establishment of effective remedies for victims in cases where domestic jurisdiction is clearly unable to" provide them. The declaration was supported by the African Group, the Arabic Group, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru. Over a hundred regional and international human rights organizations and social movements welcomed the petition. The action taken by the Ecuadorian government was ratified in Geneva at the 2nd Forum on Business and Human Rights on 3 and 4 December 2014. In June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution.

UN Human Rights Council 31st Session (Geneva, 29 Feb-24 Mar 2016)

On 11 March 2016, States will discuss the report of the first session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other businesses with respect to human rights.

UN Human Rights Council 26th Session (Geneva, 10-27 Jun 2014)

At the 26th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, two resolutions were tabled for adoption by the Council. The first is a resolution drafted by Ecuador and South Africa and signed also by Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela. It was originally tabled on 19 June, then updated on 24 June. It was supported by 20 countries and directs "to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group with the mandate to elaborate an international legally binding instrument on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with respect to human rights." The other is a resolution drafted by Norway and supported by 44 co-sponsors and adopted by consensus by all regions. It was originally tabled on 12 June, then updated on 17 and 23 June. It includes a request that the UN Working Group prepare a report considering, among other things, the benefits and limitations of legally binding instruments.

Human Rights Watch said: "There need to be stronger human rights rules for business, but the UN’s decision to move ahead with the development of an international treaty that only covers transnational corporations is compromised by the opposition of key governments and its narrow mandate. The UN’s decision is too narrow since it only focuses on transnational corporations and will not address national or other businesses that should also be required to respect human rights." ESCR-Net Corporate Accountability Working Group released a statement calling on governments at the Human Rights Council to ensure that all business enterprises, not just transnational corporations, are the subject of new normative international developments.

The International Organisation of Employers (IOE) said in a statement that it "deeply regrets" that the adoption of the Ecuador resolution has broken the unanimous consensus on business and human rights achieved three years ago with the endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles; that the vote is a "genuine setback" to the efforts underway to improve human rights and access to remedy on the ground; and that the Human Rights Council has decided to return to "approaches which have failed in the past and which are diametrically opposed to the goal of quickly advancing the implementation" of the Guiding Principles.

UN Human Rights Council 24th Session (Geneva, Sep 2013)

At the 24th UN Human Rights Council session in September 2013, the representative of Ecuador before the UN made a declaration regarding "Transnational Corporations and Human Rights". With this statement the government of Ecuador proposed a legally binding international instrument on business & human rights to be concluded within the UN system. The instrument envisioned "would clarify the obligations of transnational corporations in the field of human rights" and "provide for the establishment of effective remedies for victims in cases where domestic jurisdiction is clearly unable to" provide them. The declaration was supported by over 80 countries including the African Group, the Arabic Group, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru. Over a hundred regional and international human rights organizations and social movements welcomed the petition.

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